


Sharing Oxygen

by innersanctuaries



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Idiots in Love, M/M, Richie Tozier Being a Dumbass, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-14
Updated: 2019-11-14
Packaged: 2021-01-30 10:11:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,273
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21426508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/innersanctuaries/pseuds/innersanctuaries
Summary: “Do you know how many different diseases you can get in there? How fucking disgusting that water is?”“It’s just water, dickhead,” Richie scoffed, rolling his eyes.“You could literally like, get malaria or something. We could die, Rich,” Eddie gestured wildly at the quarry, as if it was a monster with teeth sharper than knives“Malaria is mosquitos, Eds.”“Still!"
Relationships: Eddie Kaspbrak/Richie Tozier
Comments: 4
Kudos: 165





	Sharing Oxygen

**Author's Note:**

> Back on my Reddie bullshit ayyy
> 
> I'm so used to doing angst that the fact that I'm able to write fluff is confusing and astounding to my rat brain!! 
> 
> Song inspo is Two by Sleeping At Last

“Do you know how many different diseases you can get in there? How fucking disgusting that water is?”

“It’s just water, dickhead,” Richie scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“You could literally like, get malaria or something. We could _ die, _ Rich,” Eddie gestured wildly at the quarry, as if it was a monster with teeth sharper than knives.

“Malaria is mosquitos, Eds.”

“_ Still. _”

“You’re just too chicken to go in,” He teased, a shit-eating grin spreading across his face. 

“What? No I’m not, asshole,” Eddie said indignantly.

“Yep. You’re a chicken.”

“Am not!”

“_ Chiiiiicken! _ Buh- _ gawk!” _Richie squawked, imitating a chicken flapping its tiny wings. 

“No!” Eddie’s voice reached a pitch far too high for human ears to register.

“Let me help you out, Chicken,” Running over, Richie picked Eddie up and went to the cliffside. “Alright, on three.”

“Get the fuck off me, Rich, I’ll kill you!”

“One,” He swung Eddie back and forth once, twice. “Two.”

“Richie please, please don’t throw me I can’t-” Eddie was frantic, clawing at Richie’s arms in a desperate attempt to get away.

“Three!”

Throwing Eddie over the edge, he doubled over with laughter listening to him shriek on the way down. _ What a dumbass. _

Things became worrisome and a bit problematic when he saw and heard the splash, but never saw Eddie’s head pop back up. Furrowing his brow, Richie got a running start and threw himself into the water after him. 

Popping his head up out of the water, Richie shook his head like a wet dog trying to dry itself and looked around. “Eddie? Guys, where did Eddie go?”

“D-duh-dunno, he was w-with you.” Bill stuttered, grimacing every time he tripped up. Stan threw him a soft smile, and his face lit up. “Why?”

“I pushed him in, I dunno where he is now,” Richie said, panic pricking at his skin. The water was too cold for his skin to become this sensitive, goosebumps spreading all across his body. It was their first time at the quarry, and he was most definitely expecting the water to be a bit warmer than it was. 

It was the bubbles that made him realize what was happening.

“Eddie?” His voice cracked, eyes almost comically wide behind his bottlecap glasses. “Guys, can he _ swim?!” _

The Losers all stared over at him in horror, seeming to come to the same realization he had. Nobody had the time to react before Richie was diving towards the bubbles, swimming faster than he ever had before. 

The water wasn’t really deep, but he hadn’t considered how short Eddie was, or the fact that he would pass out from the panic. Bubbles floated from Eddie’s open mouth, the last bits of oxygen in his lungs escaping, trying to make it to the surface. Richie yelled his name under the water, as if he’d be loud enough, as if it’d be the thing that woke Eddie up. 

Grabbing him, Richie pushed himself off the floor to the surface, emerging a frantic mess.

“You’re not going to die on me now, you fucker!” Richie screamed, dragging an unconscious Eddie to the shore. He could hear the blood roaring in his ears, the only thing going through his head being a loud, screaming _ save him save him god please save him _ . “Get your ass over here, god _ dammit _!”

His mom had been the one to teach him CPR. It was just because she needed the practice to complete her course and he was curious, but he somehow still knew it. He also knew that he would have to kiss Eddie in order to save his life.

At that moment, he didn’t give a shit what anyone said about him. The echoes of slurs and insults thrown at him were nowhere to be found, because his one and only goal here was to keep his best friend alive. So, he pressed his lips to Eddie’s and began to share his breath.

“Richie this is not the time to-” Stan started.

“Shut up!” Richie yelled with tears in his eyes, pushing down on Eddie’s chest, then going back to mouth to mouth. “Shut the fuck up, Stan.”

It felt like hours before Eddie coughed, hacking up half the water in the quarry. His coughing quickly turned to crying, catching sight of Richie and scooting back away from him. 

“You- You almost _ killed _ me! I almost _ died! _” Eddie wailed, angry tears streaming down his cheeks. 

“How was I supposed to know you couldn’t fucking swim?” Richie threw back, automatically getting defensive. This was his own damn fault and he knew it, but he couldn’t seem to make the words come out right.

“My mom never taught me, dumbass! She said I’d drown if I did, and look at me now!”

“I…” He stopped, thinking of how bad this really could have been. Eddie really had almost drowned. If he hadn’t known what to do, then Eddie would have been nothing but a pale body on the shore. Tears welled up in his own eyes. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Eddie, I didn’t mean it, I swear!”

He reached for Eddie and scooped him up in his arms, holding the crying boy tightly. As fucked up as it sounded, warmth spread in his chest. Eddie was alive and he was okay, and that was what counted in his book.

“Wait,” Pulling away, Eddie wiped his nose on Richie’s arm, ignoring the disgusted cry. “Which one of you had to kiss me?”

Stan was the first to point at Richie, followed by a grinning Beverly, and the rest all in unison. Cheeks burning, Richie pointed at himself as well and avoided Eddie’s gaze like the fucking plague. 

“Oh,” Eddie said, a lot more flippantly than Richie had ever expected. “At least it wasn’t Bill, he would have stuttered while breathing and I would have died.”

“Huh-hey, that’s n-not how it works!”

Once the Losers were satisfied with Eddie’s not being dead, one by one, they got back in the water. It was likely mostly because Eddie yelled at them to stop treating him like an invalid or he’d kill them, but they did it anyway. All except for Richie, who sat next to him in silence.

“I don’t think I’ve ever heard you shut up for this long.”

“I almost killed you,” He whispered, resting his chin on his knees. “You could be dead.”

“Yeah, but I’m not, so shut up.”

They sat in silence, watching everyone else laugh and play. Richie felt like a scolded child, and the quiet was killing him. “Want me to teach you how to swim?”

“Sure, but not today. I don’t want to be in the water anymore right now.”

“Okay, next time.”

Eddie smiled, leaning over to rest his chin on Richie’s shoulder and look up at him. “Hey, dumbass.”

“What?”

“Didja really kiss me?”

“Uh,” Richie started, swallowing hard. “Y-yeah.”

“Was I good at it?” 

“No, you were almost dead, stupid!” They broke out in a fit of giggles, Richie making a face like a dead fish. “That’s what you looked like!”

Eddie leaned in and gave him a peck on the lips, leaving Richie sitting frozen in place, wondering if he was dreaming. Grinning, Eddie looked at him with mischief in his big brown eyes. “Better?”

Cupping Eddie’s cheek, Richie kissed him slowly, softly, pouring in all the feelings he had for Eddie. Richie hoped he could feel them. When they pulled back, he couldn’t help but to smile at the blush dusting Eddie’s cheeks and the shy smile spread across his face. 

“Yeah,” Reaching over, he threaded their fingers together. “A lot better.”

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed it! Please comment feedback, it helps keep me motivated and helps me know what you guys do and don't like!
> 
> Follow me on instagram at archangelica_angelica or on tumblr at eddiesdeaddie if you want to get in touch or just to watch me shitpost!


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